Love of Insanity
by dragontamer ri-chan
Summary: This was insane. They were insane. Despite how they knew that it wasn't long before every one of them had fallen hard. What had caught their attention? What had made them love the love her for her faults? What made her so perfect? The unanswered questions were endless, but they clung to their truth. They could not let her go. MultiSaku
1. Chapter 1

**Love of Insanity**

**A/N: So here we are again. I'm terrible, I know. You'd think I'd have enough stories to work on, BUT THE PLOT BUNNIES ARE VICIOUS! Yes they are. This was inspired by NEEDTOBREATHE. Their song Something Beautiful inspired me for this story every time I listened.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters or series.**

**Chapter 1: Something Beautiful**

It all started with a psych test. I had been sued for assault when Ino came forward to stop me from going to prison. One might wonder how she would do such a thing. It was simple really. She revealed the fact I had a split personality named Sayuri. Thus here I am at Nara Mental Treatment Facilities (NMTF) sponsored by Akimichi Pharmaceuticals. The heir to which is none other than Ino's husband, Choji.

It's like an endless cycle of evil. Just wait though. It gets better. This mental institute was built to help us live in harmony with, suppress, or even return the second personality to our subconscious. Yes you read right. I said "our" meaning I'm not alone in the nuthouse. Joy to me! That was sarcasm. You know, in case you were wondering. Let's move on to my fellow lab rats or patients. It's pretty much the same dif to me, but what do I know? I'm crazy remember?

Patient number one is Madara Uchiha. He and the men of his family seem to have this problem where they are forced by their mothers to be perfect gentlemen (momma's boys, every single one of them) and ordered by their fathers to be some sort of supreme business warlords. However the training became harsher with each generation until not one, but six of them cracked. Those six have a side that's gentle as a lamb. However this side tends to disappear when they get angry. An Uchiha angered is the devil incarnate is what I was first told by Shikamaru the heir to this castle of crazy. They become power hungry madmen that thirst for the blood of any they consider enemy. Despite that Madara (who is said to be like a cold blooded killer when angered) had been nothing but kind to me and was supposedly the second easiest to anger.

Next in line is Izuna, Madara's younger brother who was forced into a sort of competition with the brother he worshiped. It was hell for him. I've been told he is the calmest of the Uchiha. When I asked what happens when he gets angry people just shiver and say that it is best I don't know. They act like that over pretty much everyone though.

The third oldest Uchiha needing treatment was Obito. He's very different from the other Uchiha because it _wasn't _pressure from his family that caused him to go bonkers. It was a tragic accident. He was determined to see who could slide furthest in the rain and mud with his best friend Kakashi (who later became a guard here) as his opponent. Nature was the winner apparently. There was a massive landslide that could've easily buried both boys, but just as Kakashi was about to be swallowed up Obito sacrificed himself to save his friend.

It took a full day to get him out from under there. He was desperately clinging to life even as the best doctors worked on him. He was severely scarred but the worst was yet to come. He became ostracized. At first everyone thought it was due to the scars.

They were only half right. His mental scars were the monsters under the bed in this sense. Still it wasn't until his parents suggested seeking professional treatment that the most severe affects of the accident were known. Everyone thought that despite constantly calling himself Tobi, he was still Obito. They were wrong. Tobi was carefree and very difficult to anger but when he was angered Obito reared his head. The night his parents brought up professional help was the night Obito returned with a vengeance. The next morning he came here on his own after sending Kakashi to check on his parents. The parents were not injured but his mother was in near hysterics sobbing "Why couldn't it be her?"

Next is Shisui. On one hand he's a womanizer and one of the most social patients, but when he's upset in any way he can find your mental weaknesses and exploit them mercilessly. Over half the original doctors of the facilities sent in resignation letters after dealing with him.

After him there's Itachi who becomes violent at random times but in the next instant he could easily pass for an angel. The nurses tend to fawn over him until he reaches a boiling point. After which they run away in either tears or terrified screams.

After Itachi comes our final Uchiha, Sasuke. Most of the time he's this too cool for school emo ninja who has it out for his brother. That's right, I said ninja. He was apparently trained in most forms of hand to hand combat and thus he came to believe he really is some sort of ninja avenger out to save the world. Well that's only half his story. The other half is a power hungry, cold hearted, ego maniac who just so happens to hate everything except his brother. Itachi has his hands full with that one. No wonder he went bonkers.

If you think the Uchiha are nut cases, you're right, but wait until you hear about the others. Take Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara Sabaku for example. Like me they have split personalities. Unlike me, they consider the split personalities to be demons that took the form of a nine tailed fox and a raccoon! They have names too. The fox is Kurama and the raccoon is Shukaku. Why do I know this? Simple, Kurama and Shukaku told me themselves after saying I smelled delicious. In what context, you ask? I have no fucking clue! I just hope Naruto and Gaara don't turn out to be cannibals on top of being whack jobs! Seriously what's next?

I'll tell you what. Next are the psychotic gang members! Yay! Once again sarcasm makes things funnier even if life is terrible. Moving on to the other patients there is Pain who has two other personalities known as Yahiko and Nagato. Get this, Yahiko and Nagato are the normal ones despite the body belonging to Pain. Yeah it's weird. What's new?

Next on the list is Deidara who is kind, social, funny, handsome, and last but not least he believes that his favorite things in the world should be set on fire or blown up altogether. He has this warped idea in his head that when he sets the things and people he likes on fire, people besides himself become enchanted by the unfortunate just as he was. Besides that it protects them from being corrupted by the evils of the world or something. Basically he sets them on fire so that they never give him a reason to stop liking them. Yeah, I'm so not touching that with a ten foot pole.

After Deidara comes his stoic "partner." Gay jokes aside he might be worse than Deidara. He's a control freak gone absolutely insane. He doesn't like people because people are stupid desire driven animals and he doesn't like animals because their too instinctual. The man craves knowledge like a starving pmsing woman craves chocolate. He's an extremely logical and serious person. I know what you're thinking. How does that make him crazy? Well that happens when we add the fact that he is human and no human can survive alone. Here's the question if he hates all people and all animals what does that leave for company. Sasori's answer was puppets. In his mind it was perfect. Puppets never say anything you don't want them to, they're just as smart as you are, they can never betray you, and they understand your little quirks. For a time Sasori was content. Puppets became his passion, (creepy right?) but it wasn't long until Sasori decided that wooden puppets were still too different from him. That's when he started turning people into puppets. Sasori's story pretty much ends there since after I learned that part I decided I would never ever show any interest in Sasori's past again.

The patient I was introduced to after Sasori was Hidan. That was weird. When I first met him all that happened was his eyes went wide as saucers. The doctors and security guards all went as silent as him as well before the chatter exploded to life again. From what I was able to pick up from the chatter it was the first time Hidan had ever quieted without the aid of medication. That didn't last long though. The very next day at breakfast Hidan shoved Naruto from his spot beside me and immediately started flirting at me. Why "at me" and not "with me?" Please, though I may be crazy I'm not _that_ out of my mind just yet. On a side note, Hidan has the habit of calling me angel.

Anyway Hidan has this supreme god called "Jashin." There's just one problem with his beliefs. Hidan becomes a "true vessel of Jashin's will" by allowing the "god" to "intervene" when he is about to "travel down the wrong path." In case you haven't guessed, Jashin is just another split personality inside Hidan, an extremely violent personality. The second personality loves to kill others and Hidan see's those kills as worthy "sacrifices in Jashin's honor" and continues to allow his other self possess him. Now do you understand why I don't flirt back?

Last and quite possibly creepiest on my list is Zetsu. If he weren't so creepy I'd feel really bad for him. After all his personality disorder was so severe it changed the pigmentation of half his body. It was one big sign that stated "I'm one messed up dude" to not only himself but everyone around as well. His two sides never agree on anything except their love of plants. They also tend to hate each other. It's easy to tell what side likes what. One side had a strong appreciation for everything life had to offer and was a super nice guy. The other pretty much killed whoever got on his bad side and ate their remains because "It would be such a waste to let it rot" if he didn't. He also tells me the best piece of meat the human body has to offer is the palm of the hand. I, for one, never would have guessed.

How I'm supposed to survive for 5 years is beyond me, but I guess I'm in for one long ride.

XXX Third Person XXX

The staff was conducting a new study today and Sakura was thanking the heavens, for it meant that she would finally be separated from the patients participating in the current test. It had been three months since her entry only 4 years and 9 months left if she were to get out on good behavior. Even Sayuri had been staying inside most of the time. Only two incidents she couldn't recall at all.

She didn't hate her fellow patients but she was scared. Two didn't even have split personalities; they were just too crazy to ever be returned to society and thus were switched from program to program. The others switched often and there was no warning at all. They hadn't attacked her yet but she could barely sleep at night wondering when they would.

Sakura grabbed some breakfast from the cafeteria and went to sit down at her usual table. She was no longer surprised at seeing Naruto and Gaara waiting for her, though not seeing Tobi arguing with them about who would sit next to her did strike her as unusual. At the sound of footsteps behind her she turned thinking that Tobi was just late. Unfortunately the minute her 180 was finished she was face to chest with Hidan.

"Hey Angel, when are you going to drop these shitheads and come eat your fucking breakfast at my table eh?" Hidan questioned while wrapping his arms around her. Sakura felt as though a boa constrictor had just wrapped itself around her and would squeeze the life from her body if she didn't say yes. She wished she'd just sat down. Naruto rose with an animalistic growl and told Hidan to let go. Gaara was reaching for the beast inside himself in order to have the strength to force him to let Sakura go. Unfortunately both were unsuccessful. The Uchiha didn't seem to want to get involved and the gangsters didn't want to deal with Hidan so Sakura was pretty much out of luck.

She began to resign herself to sitting with Hidan when someone pulled her right out of his grasp and tossed Hidan aside with one arm. Icy shock hit her that there was someone strong enough to just muscle past Hidan of all people. Shock was followed up by hot shame at not being able to rescue herself. She'd always believed that women were strong enough to save themselves in the midst of a tough situation yet here she was, helpless as a lamb in the jaws of a wolf. Deciding to put the immediate past behind her, she turned to look at her rescuer (who apparently saw a need to keep his arm draped over her shoulders) and was surprised to find Tobi without his signature orange mask on.

During the past few months she's been staying here Tobi told her that he only showed his face to people he cared for or in his words "people Tobi really, really likes a whole lot!" Since the person in front of her was practically daring anyone to remark on his face, Sakura figured this must be Obito. She hoped she was right since she believed it was important to thank the right person.

"Thanks for that Obito. It's nice to finally meet you!" Sakura affirmed.

Obito stopped to look at her with wide eyes. "Uh… it is?" Obito had never heard that before. The whole reason he locked himself within his mind is that despite being annoying at times Tobi was the preferred personality.

Sakura looked at his shocked face and grinned. "Of course it is." She assured him. For just a moment Sakura could have sworn his lips twitched upward slightly in an almost smile. It was the biggest reaction she'd ever managed to get from an Uchiha not counting Tobi.

Obito looked away from her, eyes searching the cafeteria for no longer than 30 seconds before he spotted who he was looking for. "Itachi, you, Sakura and I are supposed to report to the head nurses office immediately after breakfast." With that said Obito guided Sakura to a seat away from the three angry men around them. The moment she sat down he placed himself next to her reminding Sakura of a guard dog. He wasn't letting Naruto or Hidan by to grab the other open seat next to the only person he truly saw as an ally, but when Gaara calmed down he was allowed by to claim the desired seat.

Sakura looked down at her meal of an egg, two slices of toast, two pieces of bacon, and an apple. Then she looked at the spot in front of Obito that was completely empty. No breakfast, no tray, and nothing to show he'd already eaten.

Normally she didn't make it her business to make sure people were fed, but he did come to her rescue and everyone was entering a new study today that could very easily be more strenuous than just being together all the time. "Obito, aren't you going to eat?" Sakura asked keeping conversation to a minimal in the hopes she didn't annoy him. Rescuer or not, all Uchiha could crush her like leaves under horse hooves.

Obito looked at her with such suspicion and reproach in his eyes that Sakura was tripping over her words to apologize to and appease him. "Sorry Obito… I didn't mean to annoy you – I'm just really used to looking after Tobi and I guess I just…" Sakura's rambling was abruptly halted by a gentle hand patting her head. When she looked up, she was left speechless with confusion. The man that had sent her fumbling for the right words had an almost _tender_ expression on his face as he gently ran his hand along her pink tresses. She wasn't quite sure she was dealing with Obito anymore, but if it were Tobi he would have given her the biggest bear hug of her life.

"You're always worrying about me, aren't you, Sakura? I appreciate that but believe me when I say it's better if I don't eat too much when I enter this state of mind. I'm enough trouble as it is." He stated in that matter of fact manner. He smiled lightly and closed his eyes as if he weren't suffering through his most awful memories as Obito. The list of reasons why he didn't allow "Obito" to rise to the surface was a long from what Sakura heard. Both "Tobi" and "Obito" were dangerous, but of the two, it was Obito who angered far easier than his alter ego.

It wasn't something that should not bother her. All the Uchihas had a personality that was preferred while the other was feared and hated. Sakura thought back to the looks she had received in the courtroom. The looks of disdain that had made her depressed for days despite knowing the looks were not for "her" but for "Sayuri." Damn this crap is confusing. The one thing Sakura knew for certain, though, was that Obito had thus far done absolutely nothing to earn those cruel expressions from her. If he went psychopath on her she would have to change her mind, but for now at least Obito was someone she couldn't bring herself to hate. The guy was starving himself just so that _if_ he went berserker on everyone, he would be easier to take down, for pities sake.

Sakura used the plastic fork in her hand to carefully place the disgustingly soft egg on a piece of toast and hand it a very surprised Obito who had a slight blush on his face. Obito meanwhile couldn't believe his thoughts. Sure "Tobi" thought Sakura was the most adorable thing ever, but Obito was not one to show interest in a female (or anyone else for that matter), _ever._ Yet while she slipped the egg onto a piece of toast she had to focus in order to keep the overly soft egg from tearing. During that time of intense concentration he'd wanted to laugh but then when she succeeded a purely innocent smile of absolute triumph had taken over her mouth with her plump lower lip slightly redder than normal (due to the way she'd been chewing on it while concentrating.) Her eyes had blinked twice before they lit up her whole expression and just a few seconds later she was offering the prize to him like she hadn't just spent nearly two minutes trying to get it to look like that.

Frankly he was rather awed by her. It was certainly strange considering Obito had done his best to avoid any and all interest in anyone. It was bad enough when his parents had looked at him like a monster. He didn't need someone to get close to him only to have them look on him with fear after he lost his temper ever again.

He had never looked at Sakura as a heart stopping beauty and he still didn't, but as he sit there with the egg covered toast he thought that maybe Sakura was a different kind of beauty all together, one that was too caring and far more dangerous.


	2. Chapter 2: Meet Sayuri

**Love of Insanity**

**A/N: Thanks as always for being patient. I hope you all like the chapter. If you don't tell me what I did wrong and I'll do my best to fix it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters or series or even the song.**

**Chapter 2: Meet Sayuri**

_How had this happened?_ Gaara thought as he watched in complete horror as Obito took Sakura to get Itachi and head to the head nurses office. He had seen it as they stood at the Uchiha's table. Obito stood expressionless as he informed Itachi that they needed to go. That was normal. It wasn't until Sakura started telling them they had better get going that _it_ had crossed Obito's face. Tenderness, Obito had tender feelings for Sakura. It was worse still while they were leaving Obito teased, actually teased, Sakura for her desire to always be on time, something that no one in this facility could understand, but many found it to be cute. Apparently Obito did as well because when Sakura replied with a light blush of embarrassment on her face Obito astounded everyone as he chuckled lightly. Was there no end to this madness? Uchiha's never found humor in anything let alone express it if they did.

The only explanation was that Obito had been _spying_ on Sakura through Tobi. Unlike many of the dominant personalities Obito was always aware of what was happening around his body. It was the only reason that Obito would stick up for Sakura since the woman, who was now proven to be too kind for her own good, was always gentle with Tobi.

The next thing he knew Gaara was on the ground. He'd been too angry and _now_ Shukaku reared his head. He felt his muscles turn to tightly wound springs that could only be released through satisfaction. "_The satisfaction of claiming what belongs to you, the satisfaction of holding a treasure close, the satisfaction of killing all who stand in the way of that, I can give that to you boy let me in your mind and I will strengthen your body."_ How Shukaku's whispers tempted him. He wanted to get rid of Obito, to hold his greatest treasure, his Sakura, so close to his heart that she could never escape. All that held him back was Sakura's look of fear the first time she had heard Shukaku. He didn't want her to hate him, but the worst part of having an enemy inside your head was they knew your weaknesses and they knew how to perfectly exploit them. "_That is Obito, boy. He sealed himself inside his mind for a reason. He doesn't want her. He'll never want her. She's a means to an end, and there are only two things Obito seeks. He wants reality to match what's inside his head, the chaos that rules his being and for everyone to be as crazy as he is. He is a being of vengeance and destruction and even if he did want her, she could never be happy with him. Let me out, boy. Let me seize that which belongs to us!"_ That was how Shukaku won control. The last thing "Gaara" saw before retreating to his subconscious was Sakura running towards him. _Stay back!_

XXXXX

Sakura ran to Gaara before she could think about what she was doing. Yeah she knew he was crazy but after three months of knowing him, she had formed a bit of a protective streak. It started 2 months back. Sakura, Naruto, and Gaara had been in the middle of testing what set them off. If they could go 3 hours under slight stress without switching personalities then their current medications would be considered appropriate and the next thing to try would be increasing the dosage along with stress tests. There was just one problem. They had started her off on the same level as Gaara and Naruto who had developed resistance to side affects with how long they've been on the various pharmaceuticals. Sakura had just started the pills and was immediately subjected to several side affects with the most prominent being anxiety. At the first sign of stress she was having a panic attack.

She, Gaara and Naruto had been eating lunch together for about 3 weeks and the two young men instantly tried different approaches to soothing her. Naruto thought the men in lab coats with injections at the ready were the problem and sought to get rid of them to ease her mind. He started brawling which made everything a hell of a lot worse. Sakura thought her heart would stop if someone didn't remind her how to breathe properly. Then Gaara put his strategy into play. His method was to soothe the young beauty with words and a few affectionate touches. He explained everything that was happening during Naruto's little scuffle. He told her how no one was going to hurt them and that he was going to stay with her no matter what until she calmed down.

When the doctors labeled the experiment a failure and were going to drug Sakura, Gaara stepped between them and pretended to have one of his "Shukaku attacks." The only reason Sakura knew he was pretending was because he had winked at her before starting his little show. He was quite the actor. The doctors backed off the moment he deepened his voice to sound like Shukaku was breaking through the medication. In their eyes they could handle Naruto or Gaara. Kurama and Shukaku tended to pump adrenaline into their system, making them much tougher to deal with. Add that to their violent tendencies and the doctors decided they wanted to live to see another day. They backed off.

The act was actually rather entertaining to Sakura since she knew he was faking it for all he was worth and in truth it meant a lot to her. She calmed down and even laughed a little when Gaara turned around with a proud smirk on his face. In that moment, a bond was formed. They had each other's back from then on. That was exactly why she felt she couldn't abandon him now.

However the fact was Sakura was fond of "Gaara." "Shukaku" was a different story. The moment Sakura was grabbed by the redhead she felt her heart sink into her belly. The golden eyes revealed that it wasn't "Gaara" on the inside anymore.

"Well if it isn't _my_ little Sakura running over to greet me. It's been too long, my delightful little pet." Shukaku stated as he pulled her into a tight embrace that left no chance of escape.

Sakura felt her panic rise, and when it did her senses dulled as if she as if she had been plunged into a murky water and could not reach the surface. She knew this feeling and knew exactly what it meant. Sayuri wanted out.

XXXXX

-Sayuri POV-

When she woke up in the arms of an alter ego that is considered a raccoon, Sayuri ripped one of his arms out of its socket. The crazies around her looked on in either awe (Hidan and Naruto) or surprise (everyone else). You'd think they'd never seen a woman take charge. "Don't touch me with your vermin paws Shukaku. This place has me feeling disgusting enough without an animal in heat feeling me up."

Before she could even finish her sentence the researchers and doctors filed in, along with security and their drug filled weapons. They wouldn't put her to sleep just yet. Fighting among the crazies was an everyday occurrence. The weapons were to protect the doctors and no one else. _What charmers._ Sayuri sardonically concluded.

Then she saw two things that actually surprised her. Zetsu was staring at her in an almost protective way and an Uchiha was walking towards her. If she recalled correctly his name was Izuna. She kept a strong hold on Shukaku prepared to use him as a meat shield if necessary.

Izuna stopped in front of her allowing her to see just how much taller he was. Sayuri noted that like most Uchiha, he wanted some kind of attention for it but it was a wasted effort. She did not care. This seemed to agitate him.

"You are "Sayuri" aren't you?" He demanded. Sayuri let him stew for a moment or two in his own question before giving him a one word answer.

"Yup." She smirked as his eye twitched slightly. He was clearly unaccustomed to women playing mind games. He obviously didn't know a large variety of women.

"I wanted to ask if you remembered the time when you fought alongside me to keep my brother from killing a few of the doctors here." He mumbled in an uncertain voice that held a tinge of frustration. Sayuri, being Sayuri, couldn't help but continue to mess with the head case.

"Okay, ask away." She stated with a big grin. As his hands balled into fists she began to see how his muscles tightened and bulged with the effort not to lose his temper. Sayuri decided that she could humor the poor sap.

"Alright, alright, chill already. Look I remember fighting beside you, but what your drug addled mind has failed to realize is that I only did that because 'Sakura' forced me to come out. I was perfectly content to watch you two pummel each other until that pampered little princess endangered our body. Hate to break it to you but the one you really want to be talking to is her." She explained.

Izuna was a little stunned. He hadn't really believed that "Sakura" and "Sayuri" were different enough to be considered split personalities. However now that he'd seen both of them in the same morning it occurred to him that the demure little "princess," as Sayuri had called her alter ego, was truly the opposite of the head case in front of him. "If she can call you out does that mean that you can call her out? I would like to speak with her." Izuna had summoned up every last bit of gentleman in his soul for that request. Sayuri looked as though she was struggling to contain her laughter.

"Of course I _can_ call her out. That doesn't mean I _will_. You want to talk to her? Wait till it's your turn to test with her." With that Sayuri began to march out of the cafeteria in such a dignified manner that it would have made any soldier proud. She walked like that for all of 30 seconds before she grew bored and decided to stalk out in her usual cat-like manner. Just before exiting she looked over her shoulder at Obito and Itachi.

"Are you two coming or what?"


	3. Chapter 3: Enter Kakuzu and Kisame

**Love of Insanity**

**A/N: Here we are again. Sorry it's taking so long to crank things out. Things have been decidedly weird though I can't tell you if that's good or bad. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters or series.**

**Chapter 3: Enter Kakuzu and Kisame**

XX Shikamaru POV XX

Shikamaru was frazzled. It was very unlike him as he paced around his office waiting for a certain pinkette and two Uchiha to appear in his doorway. He asked himself why he was so frayed though he knew. He simply didn't acknowledge. He was a doctor (not to mention a genius) and as such he could never even begin to accept that he was attracted to Sakura. He so needed to get out more.

However when he thought about it, he could see it working. He could be someone who understood and cared about her regardless of "Sayuri." In truth Sayuri seemed just as much a part of Sakura as her right arm. They were just two sides of the same coin. Both sides were equal, opposite, and most of all necessary. Shikamaru believed that "Sayuri" was born from a fear of rejection inside Sakura and a background that beat into her what was "acceptable" and what wasn't.

Yes when Shikamaru thought about it, he was certain that "Sayuri" was just another part of her he found rather endearing. It was obviously time to stop thinking about it. That seemed quite impossible as soon as "Sayuri" stepped through the door.

XX Sayuri 1st Person POV XX

When I first saw Shikamaru Nara, he was exactly as I expected him to be. At least he was till he cocked an eyebrow at me and smirked. It made me want to punch him in the face. Still I didn't want to be in here anymore than "Sakura" did, so I restrained my fist for once.

Yet as time went by, it became clear that he treated "Sakura" and "Sayuri" the same way. That I couldn't have predicted even if I were some kind of prophet. Between cats and dogs you had some similarities I suppose. They had fur, four legs, and were both mammals. That's typically where it ended though. When it came down to personality, they were as different as night and day. With so many differences it was natural for people to develop preferences. The question "Are you a cat person or a dog person" existed for a reason.

_Note to self: See how people react when I ask them if they are a Sakura person or a Sayuri person. _I giggled to myself not truly caring who thought me insane. The smart ones always did believe me to be the train wreck of psychopaths. That brought my train wreck of thought (I giggled again) back to the enigma that was Shikamaru Nara. He wasn't just smart, but a genius, completing every intelligence test thrown at me faster than I could, even when I used the combined brain power of both Sakura and myself. Though we didn't share memories we would share knowledge. I just chose to ignore most of it and settle things with my fists.

As I brought my thoughts back to the present, I found Shikamaru staring at me and smirking. Then instinct kicked in when I felt a wave of animosity wash over the room from my right. Like the cat I compared myself to earlier I crouched and shot myself backwards to avoid the splintering wood of Shikamaru's desk. Obito had just sent his heel through it as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. The only thing that hinted at the displeasure that spurred the scarred Uchiha into action was the barely detectable twitch in his eyebrow. Shikamaru's smirk had disappeared as he looked Obito up and down. He seemed ready for a fight.

You'd think Shikamaru had challenged Obito to a chest beating contest from the way the two were acting. My eyes darted left to Itachi who leaned against the wall, and because every man in the room seemed to take a sudden interest in staring, he decided he would stare at me. What a weirdo or maybe he just wanted to be thought of as straight. He_ really_ hated it the last time I accused him of being gay for Pein. A low growl from Obito's throat forced me to decide if I wanted to contemplate weirdness vs. male oversensitivity or the possibility that Obito was on his man period. Man period won that one.

"Stop staring at her like you know everything there is to know about her split personalities. Someone like you could never understand!" Obito roared. Fury coated his every word, but it was his tone that caught my attention. _Is he trying to defend me or something? No, oh no. There is no fucking way he is going to turn me into some lame ass damsel in distress in desperate need of rescuing!_

Just as I opened my mouth to give that knight wannabe a verbal assault he would never forget some rude-ass underling of Shikamaru's ran in headlong to talk to him like we weren't even in the fucking room. I was about to hit my boiling point as they continued talking about some giant prisoner – oh, I meant patient – like Obito, Itachi, and I didn't even exist, when Shikamaru spoke up. "You three get back to your rooms immediately! Kakashi will escort you there. Wait right here until he arrives. If you don't, you can forget about good behavior!" With that he was out the door.

I bristled at the threat, but more than that, I was furious because I knew exactly what Shikamaru was trying to do. Like Obito, he seemed to feel some inexplicable need to "protect me" or some such nonsense. Normally I would think I was starting to think about it far too much and tell myself to get a grip. What sane person would actually want to get mixed up with someone insane? The problem was I wasn't convinced Shikamaru was completely sane. Most people here weren't.

Let's face facts here. If you spend all your time with a certain group of people, you will eventually be influenced by those people. There were exceptions to every rule of course, but the sad fact of humanity was that we couldn't survive alone. Sasori had tried and just look how he turned out.

Everyone understood this to some degree and therefore most people developed a need to fit in and be accepted, even if it meant changing yourself to fit in. As many problems as there were with this logic, it was the way most people felt. The biggest problem I saw with it was that puzzle pieces are only meant to fit only a few other puzzle pieces. When a piece doesn't fit you aren't supposed to alter it; you're supposed to find the pieces it belongs with while keeping its original shape. People can only alter themselves so much before they end up crazy! The proof of that was all around this mad house.

Just as those thoughts ended, I felt more than heard the huge crash of the door breaking down. I turned as fast as my body would allow but I was still too late. A fist was so close to my face that I couldn't see the face of the man behind it. It took only a second to break free of my shock but in that second I was hit right between the eyes. Pain was all could register for half an instant, the amount being so great that not even my will to live could suppress it. It was more that I could take and admitting that only added insult to injury as my mind went blank and my vision went black.

XX Sakura 3rd per. POV XX

Sakura awoke to an immense headache and a cold floor. That was strange enough, but what really caught her attention was how quickly her mind cleared. Normally when she returned to herself, she would have quite a bit of disorientation, but her mind must have worked overtime in its fight for survival. She knew she had awakened in the middle of a brawl, and what a fight it was.

Obito and Itachi were tall, strong men. Anger made them even stronger to the point where they seemed almost invincible to those around them. However if there were any men who could match them it would probably be the two giants currently trying to shove Obito through the ceiling. While Itachi kept out of the second giants reach with a sort of familiarity, Sakura couldn't help but think they had met before and this was some sort of ritual for them. She also made a mental note of how Itachi wasn't fighting with everything he had to work with. It was as Itachi was a tree attempting to leap out of the ground, but the roots kept pulling him back to the same spot.

Then it occurred to her what Itachi was doing when the great blue skinned giant ran at Itachi with every bit of speed he could push through his enormous body. Itachi was attempting to protect her Itachi didn't flinch and looked like as determined as if there were chocolate on the line. In this case she was just glad it wasn't dango they were fighting over because if it was she doubted the giant would be feeling very tall right now. Hell Itachi nearly killed Shisui for attempting to steal just one.

Back to the subject at hand, Sakura sprinted past Itachi towards the charging blue mountain of man in front of her. At the last possible moment Sakura spun 180 degrees around him catching his arm on the spin. Using both his force and weight against him, thrust her leg into his back while pulled on the arm and wrenched it right out of its socket. She made herself so proud. Obito and Itachi had both stopped to stare at her, completely dumbfounded. She smirked at the both of them before remembering there was a second opponent. He took the time to knock out Obito with a lazy yet quick movement of his hand and Sakura realized that while the other had brute strength going for him this was the more dangerous adversary.

The way he looked her up and down wasn't the normal way someone sizes up a foe. He was measuring where her weakest points were and how much pressure he should apply to break her without killing her. This man was lethal.

"My name is Kakuzu." He stated as he made his way over to his fallen ally. He gripped the arm and popped it right back into place with rough hands. "The headstrong, mentally crippled one is Kisame. Would you care to share your name, little ember?"

"Sakura," she replied with a curt nod, her instincts screaming at her not to anger him right away. One eyebrow rose at his nickname for her. "Why are you addressing me as little ember?" She questioned with narrowed eyes.

"It fits you, wouldn't you say. You were laid up by one fist, but recovered quickly and came up swinging." They began to circle each other with Sakura doing the same thing he did moments earlier. She looked him up and down, targeting pressure points and the like, working out strategies of how to get there with as little exerted energy as possible. "You were just laid up on the floor before you roared to life with a little help from kindling," he glanced at Kisame. "and perhaps quick breath of oxygen, and just like an ember you glow no matter the circumstances." He stated with a shrug.

Then he attacked.


End file.
